All radioactive packages are delivered to REHS. After trained personnel survey the packages for contamination, they are delivered to your lab.

Please be sure to call in your orders or using the Order Isotopes Quick Link on the main page of our website. (http://rehs.rutgers.edu/) This will insure timely delivery of all radioisotope packages. While it is not common, there are times when either the packaging materials or the inner vials are contaminated. Below you will find a standard operating procedure (SOP) for opening radioactive packages in the lab. Please make sure this procedure is implemented in your lab as soon as possible.

You are responsible for following the Package Opening Procedure and surveying the stock vial and packaging materials prior to disposal or recycling. 

• Inspect the packaging slip
• Verify the package belongs to your laboratory
• Verify the isotope and amount ordered are correct

Place the package in a secure area such as a locked refrigerator or a lockbox if it will not be opened right away. Only lab personnel who have been to radiation safety training are qualified to open packages.

When removing the pig and the inner vial:

• Wear gloves, lab coats and safety glasses.
• Use shielding if necessary (lucite or plexiglass shielding for high energy beta emitters such as P-32 and lead shielding for gamma emitters such as I-125).
• Verify the label on the primary vial has the correct isotope and amount you ordered.
• Wipe test both the plastic or lead pig and primary vial.
• For H-3 you must count the wipes in a liquid scintillation counter.
• For isotopes other than H-3, wipe the pig and vial and hold the wipe up to the appropriate meter (a pancake probe for C-14, P-32 and S-35 or a sodium iodide probe for I-125).
• If wipe test results are consistent with background, place the radioisotope in a secure area.
• If wipe test results are above background, contact REHS for assistance.

• Survey the packing material for contamination with the appropriate survey meter (see above). Note: this step is not necessary for H-3.
• If meter survey results are consistent with background, throw out the packing material in the regular trash. Verify the box is completely empty before you dispose.
• You must deface any radioactive symbols before disposing into regular trash.
• If meter survey results are above background ,dispose of the packaging material in your solid radioactive waste container.